Nausicaä Of The Valley of The Wind (1984/2005 English Dub):

Nausicaä Of The Valley of The Wind (1984/2005 English Dub):

“Warrior and pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet.”

After the Seven Days of Fire, the world was divided between tribes with an ever-growing threat: The Toxic Jungle. Only one place in the land is safe. A place known as The Valley of The Wind. Princess Nausicaä tries to restore harmony to this apocalyptic world. She discovers that the wind and irrigation in the Valley keeps them safe.

But, others have different ideas of what will bring peace. The Tolmekian Princess Kushana seeks to annihilate the other superpower tribe Pejite with a destructive weapon from the Seven Days of Fire, the Giant Warrior. It's a race against time as Nausicaä teams up with the Pejite Prince Asbel to bring peace.

Nausicaä and Asbel are kidnapped by Kushana, along with her father Lord Yupa. Tolmekia resurrects the Giant Warrior and does battle with the giant bugs (called Oms.) of the Toxic Jungle. Nausicaä, being a pacifist turns them back and is able to demonstrate that her way calms the Oms and in fact can restore nature.

It's a fantastic journey full of wonder, post-apocalyptic tech (Hover-gliders, robots, tanks, gas masks, flash grenades, and guns.), and Miyazaki's trademark environmental themes, and anti-war messages. It's not without violence, but there is also a message of hope and rebirth. A feeling that peace will come even when it seems like evil will win.

This was a bold message for 1984, and it's easy to see that Tolmekia and Pejite are stand-ins for the global superpowers in the Cold War, with the Giant Warrior being not a giant robot, but a nuclear arsenal. Its themes and story still resonate today, with the need to be in harmony with Earth, and with need for something like Nausicaä's pacifism and curiosity.

Today, part of what makes Nausicaä fun to watch for me is the 2005 Disney English voice cast, which includes Uma Thurman, (Kashana) Shia LaBeouf, (Asbel) Mark Hamill (Pejite Mayor), and Patrick Stewart (Lord Yupa). Princess Nausicaä is Alison Lohman. If you have time today, give it a watch! It holds up!

TMNT (2007):

TMNT (2007):

“When the world is threatened by an ancient evil, the four adolescent turtles must reunite and overcome their faults in order to stand against it.”

I have no idea why someone thought it was a good idea to make a Ninja Turtles movie take place after they defeated Shredder. Part of it takes place in Central America. You have hundreds of villains, characters, and plots to choose from in the TMNT universe. What they decided was to use a standard villain named Winters, and slowly introduce Dimension X, while back in NY, the turtles struggle with menial jobs.

Leo disappears to Central America to learn how to be a better leader...or something. Raph is a superhero vigilante called Night Watchman. Mikey becomes a party clown. Donatello lands a job in IT. It's kind of fun...for a one-off joke, not bringing together the whole team for the entire run-time.

Anyway, monsters start appearing in NY thanks to Winters and a Central American tablet which makes a portal appear. Stone soldiers and mutants start attacking. This is just about the only good fight scene we get with all the turtles fighting as a team. The rest of the movie is them rescuing Leo from the monsters.

It does have a few redeeming qualities. There's a fight scene between Raph and Leo. That was pretty good. The voice actors are pretty good. Patrick Stewart is Winters. Chris Evans is Casey Jones. Mako plays Splinter. It's free on Netflix, but absolutely skip this one, since it's trying to set up franchise sequels we know never happened. I think there was a videogame, but otherwise what a waste of some good ideas.